By Suelika N. Buchanan
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| Fishermen pull in a boat on the Rocky Point beach in Clarendon yesterday as they brace for Hurricane Dean. (Photo: Joseph Wellington, Jamaica Observer.com) |
The government of Jamaica also put in place more than 1,000 shelters in converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena. Authorities urged people to take cover from the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and was expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain on the island.
At 8 p.m. on Sunday, Dean was located 70 miles west-southwest of Kingston and was traveling west at 20 mph the National Hurricane Center stated.~~Adz:Right~~
Assistant Commissioner of Police Linval Bailey said police were sent to commercial districts to prevent looting and curfews were imposed until Monday evening. Police got into a shootout with looters at a shopping center in the central Jamaican parish of Clarendon, but no one was hurt, Constable Cheree Greaves said.
The electricity was also cut by authorities in order to prevent damage to the electrical infrastructure.
Some of the damages to the country included the roof of a prison block partially torn off and some inmates had to be moved.
In the St. Thomas Parish there was extensive damages reported from several communities. Such as significant wind damage to roofs, storm surges, flooding, collapsed structures and impassable roadways are among the many reports.
In the St. James community, Coral Gardens is severely affected by wind damage.
Kingston and St. Andrew experienced severe wind damage and downed power lines in the Riverton city area. There was also, a fallen tree causing the collapsing of a residential building in the Chambers Lane Area of Liguanea, St. Andrew.
Flooding was reported in Clarendon from the Denbigh gully and in Portland there were several roadways in Port Antonio, Manchioneal, Mount James and Mount Airy in Buff Bay that are blocked.
In the St. Mary’s area several roadways from Junction to Broadgate are impassable and blocked by fallen trees.
Finally in St. Catherine, storm surges have been reported along the Port Henderson road in Portmore rendering the roadway impassable along with roof damage in the communities of Naggo Head and Newland.
The Newland Road is also impassable due to a fallen utility pole. Additionally, sections of the roadway have been eroded in Hellshire due to storm surges and rising water levels have been reported in Old Harbour forcing the evacuation of several persons.
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): Jamaica missed a more in depth extensive damage from Hurricane Dean when the eye of the storm ended up passing just south of the island on Sunday night.
The hurricane pummeled Jamaica with gusting winds and torrential rains on Sunday after the prime minister made a last-minute plea for residents to abandon their homes and head for shelter. Many residents ignored the call, while some tourists were put up in resorts with hurricane-proof walls.
It was recorded that Dean had already killed eight people on its destructive march across the Caribbean.
According to reports from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, “the first hurricane of the Atlantic season was projected to reach the most dangerous classification, a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 160 mph before plowing into Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday.” The report added that the Mexican mainland or Texas could be hit later.
